It's Almost Time For Time Capsule Inspection In Braintree

BRAINTREE, MA — It’s still more than a month off, but Braintree is preparing for its annual inspection of the Time Capsule Cairn.

The stone cairn encloses an 800-pound steel time capsule, containing memorabilia from the nation’s bicentennial celebration in 1976. The capsule is intended for future Braintree residents to open during a tricentennial celebration in 2076.

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Each year as part of its Independence Day celebrations, the town inspects the cairn and publicly reads a report on its status.

On Tuesday the town council will discuss the event and receive a formal invitation to the ceremony, according to the meeting agenda.

The capsule, which underwent a restoration in 2009, includes hundreds of letters, photographs and other artifacts from 1976. The container is filled with argon gas to prevent bacterial decay.

Planners of the monument deliberately placed the capsule above ground, protected by the cairn, since the locations of buried capsules are frequently forgotten.

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